Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove

Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove. New York: Roc, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-451-46174-2

This is another alternate history novel by Turtledove, the acknowledged master of the genre. He imagines a smallish continent, naturally named Atlantis, out in the middle of the Atlantic, sort of halfway between Europe and North America. He tells us the history of this land, from its initial discovery and settlement by Europeans in the 1450's, on down to about the time of the American Revolution, when the British and French fight for dominance of the island, as an adjunct to their American and European wars.

The story is as well-told as any Turtledove book. If you enjoy his style, you'll undoubtedly enjoy reading this book. But my essential reaction was, what's the point? I need more than just another lackadaisical idea to motivate me into reading Turtledove. When he asks INTERESTING alternate history questions, like “What if the South won the Civil War?” or “What if aliens invaded in the middle of World War II?” then I'm interested enough to follow the story for book after book.

But in this case, there's just a new land mass where there wasn't one before. No magical creatures live there, just different ones (kind of like Australia or Zanzibar). The island is uninhabited when Europeans get there, which is improbable in itself. Surely it would have been previously settled by indigenes from somewhere! People from the Americas, if nowhere else.

So, British, French and Spanish settlers colonize the island. There is an interregnum period in which pirates control the western half of the island, and have to be eradicated. Sad. Pirates are always more fun, if more dangerous, than regular society. And then the war for dominance, which the British win, of course. My ultimate reaction? So what? Why should I care? I don't care. So I won't be bothering with any sequels. Sorry Harry. You struck out with this one, so far as I'm concerned.

The Grapple by Harry Turtledove

Settling Accounts: The Grapple by Harry Turtledove. New York: Del Ray Ballantine Books, 2006. ISBN: 0-345-45725-0

This is the third in the series of novels depicting World War II fought between the United States and a Confederacy which won the Civil War. The Confederacy lost World War I with its trench warfare and early use of tanks (called “barrels” in this alternate history), and are out for revenge in the Settling Accounts series. Unfortunately for them, their attempt to crush the north in one savage blitzkrieg reached its high water mark in the previous volume, The Drive to the East.

This volume takes us through the inevitable next phase of the war, as the tide turns, and the north, with its superior numbers, infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities, begins to wear down and even invade the South. Meanwhile, the fascist South is busily exterminating its black population in gas chambers and concentration camps just as fast as it can.

For information on the earlier books in the series, see my entry on The Victorious Opposition. Recommended for those following the series.